Foles not ready to accept star treatment as Eagles' starting QB

In a city where winning is everything and the backup quarterback all too often tops the popularity polls, Foles is charming the fans.

Foles still can hit the local Wawa for his cup of coffee without creating a celebrity crush, but even that’s changing.

“You definitely get recognized a lot more, but the fans have been great,” Foles said. “You get a lot of ‘great game,’ ‘keep it up’ and stuff like that. But me as a person and my life, I’m very simple. So it hasn’t changed a bit.”

Though Foles has thrown 19 touchdown passes and leads the league with a passer rating of 125.2, the only statistic that concerns him is turnovers. And he has just one on the season, a stinking fumble.

One more touchdown pass without an interception and Foles joins Peyton Manning, the NFL record holder, who in September threw 20 TDs without a pick to start the season.

Almost lost in Foles’ latest quest is the historic day he had at Oakland. Foles joined Manning and five other quarterbacks, all legends, by throwing a single-game record seven touchdown passes.

You would think someone would approach him for an endorsement.

“That will be stuff I’ll worry about in the offseason,” Foles said. “I’m focused on this team right now and winning. And all that stuff, this clutter that takes away, I’m focused in here.”

Foles’ idea of fun is playing turnover-free football, letting the rest of the game-day chips fall where they may and embracing the process.

Not coincidentally, the Eagles are 7-5 with a four-game winning streak and in control of their playoff destiny.

The Birds are 5-0 in games Foles has started and finished this season. The sports books figure it will be 6-0 as Foles and the Eagles are 2½-point favorites to defeat the Detroit Lions (7-5) Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.

Foles isn’t going to surprise Lions head coach Jim Schwartz.

“I think the biggest thing with quarterbacks, what you want to judge them on is wins and losses,” Schwartz said. “A lot is being made of his 19 touchdowns and zero interceptions even though he has had some that have been near-misses. Every quarterback does. With all due respect to fantasy football, the only thing that really matters for a quarterback’s stats is their ability to lead teams to wins, and he’s done that.”

Win or lose, you can basically guarantee that Nick Foles will be himself. Teammates say the guy who answers questions at the podium is the same straight shooter in the locker room.

“He’s just a regular dude, man,” said tight end Brent Celek. “He’s that type of guy. He is who he is. He’s not changing for anything, I don’t think. I’m sure he’s showing you guys the same thing he’s showing us. It’s good. Guys respect him. Everybody has their own personality. That’s just Nick’s personality.”

Guard Todd Herremans has seen flashier Eagles quarterbacks. But he’s never seen one quite like Foles.

“He’s cool, he’s calm, he’s laid-back,” Herremans said. “He’s focused on what he needs to do. I think he’s a really good team player and he makes good decisions on the field.”

The 6-foot-6, 243-pound Foles blends in so much as a teammate and is so nondescript a character that running back LeSean McCoy had to search for the right words to describe him.

“He likes country music,” McCoy said. “Naw, he’s cool. He’s a hard-working player. He works hard. He’s always trying to find a way to simplify the game plan for our players. He’s always asking for everybody’s opinion. You know, what’s best for you? How could I be more comfortable on the handoff? Whatever it is. He’s the type of leader that this team needs. He’s stepped up to the plate since he’s been a starter and he’s doing everything the right way.”

That camaraderie with teammates paid off in the last game when Foles threw a pair of touchdown passes to rookie tight end Zach Ertz.

“We repped all those plays in practice throughout the week,” Ertz said. “You know against certain looks that you’re going to get the ball or you’re not going to get the ball. Pre-snap kind of dictates who’s going to get the ball a lot of the times. I knew pretty much I had to beat the guy one-on-one and if I did I’d get the ball. So we knew. Nick is an amazing person. I can’t say enough good things about Nick. He’s so mature both on and off the field. He’s a man of God. He’s an amazing person and he’s one of my best friends on the team. He truly cares about each person. He wants each person to succeed.”

The best thing about having Foles as a teammate is what he wants, he gets.